Peter Andre has accepted “substantial” damages in the High Court over “offensive” allegations that he was lying in portraying himself as a loving father and husband.

Peter, 36, was present in the London courtroom for a brief hearing before Mr Justice Eady.

Peter Andre has received damages over an article in Now magazine

His solicitor, Gordon Williams, told the judge that the action related to an article published in July in Now, a weekly celebrity and gossip magazine.

He said it claimed that Peter may have been at fault for two accidents suffered by Harvey, the severely disabled son of his former wife Katie Price, with whom he has two children, Junior and Princess Tiaamii.

Mr Williams told the court: “Separately, Mr Andre was also said to have demanded sick sexual threesomes from his wife, which horrified her and which she did not enjoy, feeling used and like a sex doll. As a result, Mr Andre was said to be lying in portraying himself as a loving father and husband.”

Mr Williams said the allegations about him as a father and husband were “highly defamatory” and were “particularly upsetting and offensive to Mr Andre because they are simply not true”.

The defendant, IPC Media Limited, publisher of the magazine, agreed to pay Andre a “substantial sum by way of damages and legal fees”.

After the hearing Peter, who declined to reveal the amount of the damages, said: “I take my responsibilities very seriously. I would never do anything to hurt my children, whom I love very much. Everyone knows that the worst thing anyone could challenge is my parenting skills. Challenge me on anything, but not that.”